National Journal
(Excerpts from COVER STORY - China’s Cyber-Militia)
Full story:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/cs_20080531_6948.php
Chinese hackers pose a clear and present danger to U.S. government and private-sector computer networks and may be responsible for two major U.S. power blackouts.
by Shane Harris
Sat. May 31, 2008
Computer hackers in China, including those working on behalf of the Chinese government and military, have penetrated deeply into the information systems of U.S. companies and government agencies, stolen proprietary information from American executives in advance of their business meetings in China, and, in a few cases, gained access to electric power plants in the United States, possibly triggering two recent and widespread blackouts in Florida and the Northeast, according to U.S. government officials and computer-security experts.
One prominent expert told National Journal he believes that China’s People’s Liberation Army played a role in the power outages. Tim Bennett, the former president of the Cyber Security Industry Alliance, a leading trade group, said that U.S. intelligence officials have told him that the PLA in 2003 gained access to a network that controlled electric power systems serving the northeastern United States. The intelligence officials said that forensic analysis had confirmed the source, Bennett said. “They said that, with confidence, it had been traced back to the PLA.” These officials believe that the intrusion may have precipitated the largest blackout in North American history, which occurred in August of that year. A 9,300-square-mile area, touching Michigan, Ohio, New York, and parts of Canada, lost power; an estimated 50 million people were affected.
Officially, the blackout was attributed to a variety of factors, none of which involved foreign intervention. Investigators blamed “overgrown trees” that came into contact with strained high-voltage lines near facilities in Ohio owned by FirstEnergy Corp. More than 100 power plants were shut down during the cascading failure. A computer virus, then in wide circulation, disrupted the communications lines that utility companies use to manage the power grid, and this exacerbated the problem. The blackout prompted President Bush to address the nation the day it happened. Power was mostly restored within 24 hours.
There has never been an official U.S. government assertion of Chinese involvement in the outage, but intelligence and other government officials contacted for this story did not explicitly rule out a Chinese role. One security analyst in the private sector with close ties to the intelligence community said that some senior intelligence officials believe that China played a role in the 2003 blackout that is still not fully understood.
Bennett, whose former trade association includes some of the nation’s largest computer-security companies and who has testified before Congress on the vulnerability of information networks, also said that a blackout in February, which affected 3 million customers in South Florida, was precipitated by a cyber-hacker. That outage cut off electricity along Florida’s east coast, from Daytona Beach to Monroe County, and affected eight power-generating stations.
Bennett said that the chief executive officer of a security firm that belonged to Bennett’s trade group told him that federal officials had hired the CEO’s company to investigate the blackout for evidence of a network intrusion, and to “reverse engineer” the incident to see if China had played a role.
Bennett, who now works as a private consultant, said he decided to speak publicly about these incidents to point out that security for the nation’s critical electronic infrastructures remains intolerably weak and to emphasize that government and company officials haven’t sufficiently acknowledged these vulnerabilities.
The Florida Blackout
A second information-security expert independently corroborated Bennett’s account of the Florida blackout. According to this individual, who cited sources with direct knowledge of the investigation, a Chinese PLA hacker attempting to map Florida Power & Light’s computer infrastructure apparently made a mistake. “The hacker was probably supposed to be mapping the system for his bosses and just got carried away and had a ‘what happens if I pull on this’ moment.” The hacker triggered a cascade effect, shutting down large portions of the Florida power grid, the security expert said. “I suspect, as the system went down, the PLA hacker said something like, ‘Oops, my bad,’ in Chinese.”
The power company has blamed “human error” for the incident, specifically an engineer who improperly disabled safety backups while working on a faulty switch. But federal officials are still investigating the matter and have not issued a final report, a spokeswoman for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said. The industry source, who conducts security research for government and corporate clients, said that hackers in China have devoted considerable time and resources to mapping the technology infrastructure of other U.S. companies. That assertion has been backed up by the current vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said last year that Chinese sources are probing U.S. government and commercial networks.
Asked whether Washington knew of hacker involvement in the two blackouts, Joel Brenner, the government’s senior counterintelligence official, told National Journal, “I can’t comment on that.” But he added, “It’s certainly possible that sort of thing could happen. The kinds of network exploitation one does to explore a network and map it and learn one’s way around it has to be done whether you are going to … steal information, bring [the network] down, or corrupt it.… The possible consequences of this behavior are profound.”
Brenner, who works for Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, looks for vulnerabilities in the government’s information networks. He pointed to China as a source of attacks against U.S. interests. “Some [attacks], we have high confidence, are coming from government-sponsored sites,” Brenner said. “The Chinese operate both through government agencies, as we do, but they also operate through sponsoring other organizations that are engaging in this kind of international hacking, whether or not under specific direction. It’s a kind of cyber-militia.… It’s coming in volumes that are just staggering.”
The Central Intelligence Agency’s chief cyber-security officer, Tom Donahue, said that hackers had breached the computer systems of utility companies outside the United States and that they had even demanded ransom. Donahue spoke at a January gathering in New Orleans of security executives from government agencies and some of the nation’s largest utility and energy companies. He said he suspected that some of the hackers had inside knowledge of the utility systems and that in at least one case, an intrusion caused a power outage that affected multiple cities. The CIA didn’t know who launched the attacks or why, Donahue said, “but all involved intrusions through the Internet.”
Donahue’s public remarks, which were unprecedented at the time, prompted questions about whether power plants in the United States had been hacked. Many computer-security experts, including Bennett, believe that his admission about foreign incidents was intended to warn American companies that if intrusions hadn’t already happened stateside, they certainly could. A CIA spokesman at the time said that Donahue’s comments were “designed to highlight to the audience the challenges posed by potential cyber intrusions.” The CIA declined National Journal’s request to interview Donahue.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Cyber Terrorism - America's Achilles Heel
Cyber Terrorism - Part 1
What Price for Freedom?
Series by Jim Putnam
We live in a society that dictates the need to protect our selves, families, homes, property and business. America without insurance would be like air without oxygen. It is difficult to find a single aspect of life in America in which protection is not integrated and essential.
Yet our leadership tell us that the most basic services in which our life and lifestyle depends, the infrastructure of the American standard of living, cannot be protected. The necessities of life, food, air, water, housing and transportation, are all vulnerable to terrorist attack.
We can protect the president. We can protect our money, our gold and our treasures. We can even protect our nuclear arsenal and weapons of destruction. But we cannot protect our quality of life and our people from the threat of cyber terrorism.
Former Bush Administration cyber expert Richard Clarke predicts an “Electronic Pearl Harbor” and has blasted the private sector for failing to protect our infrastructure. Yet all experts agree it is a complex issue. Cyber security seems to demand a trade off. More security can be given if we are willing to sacrifice our freedom and privacy.
America’s corporate world, especially the financial and international commerce communities, refuse to accept the government intrusion into their world of corporate secrets for fear the information will be used to tax or prosecute them. Recent examples of corporate greed and abuse suggest there is a lot to hide from the government. Yet the privacy issue is valid.
At the same time, the corporate world has been reluctant to tell us if they have been successfully hacked. To do so would acknowledge they are vulnerable. It would raise doubt as to their ability to protect their records, clients and intellectual property. It would threaten their credit rating and worst of all, it could cause their stock value to fall. Better to cover up the attack than to undermine investor confidence.
Politically, with the federal elections on the horizon and control of the White House in the balance, it is always safer to blame someone else or deflect blame than to assume responsibility. The politicians use the convenient mantra we can’t protect our infrastructure from cyber attack. They blame the private sector for failing to develop adequate security. And they accuse the private sector of refusing to cooperate and of withholding information about cyber vulnerability.
Wouldn’t you refuse to tell the government all your secrets? The government can’t keep it’s own secrets, let alone be trusted with proprietary corporate secrets. Still it is a “Catch 22” that must be overcome for the average citizen to go to sleep at night feeling secure that their essential services are protected from the hands of blood thirsty, hate filled terrorists committed to killing Americans and destroying our way of life.
Because tonight the water supply could be poisoned. Tonight the electrical grid could be shut down and air conditioners would stop working in the heat wave. Nuclear reactors could have a melt down sending clouds of deadly radiation into the air and contaminating the countryside. Air traffic controllers could be stopped from contacting the thousands of planes in the air.
Floodgates on dams could be opened sending billions of gallons of water crashing down on communities. You could wake up tomorrow and your bank records could be gone, your insurance coverage cutoff, and health care disrupted. Raw sewage could be diverted into your drinking water. Emergency calls to 911 could go unanswered.
Because our standard of living is excessive, it takes an excessive infrastructure to support it. Our lifestyle is computer and energy dependent. From the cockpit of an airplane to the control room of a nuclear reactor, the 500 digital TV channels to the cell phone attached to your ear, we need the infrastructure to feed our addiction for more.
The techniques that could be used by a single terrorist cell working through cyber space could threaten the very existence of our national infrastructure. Every single catastrophe I mentioned is possible from a few keystrokes on a keyboard. So if the politicians are not responsible, the government can’t help, and the private sector is in denial, where do you turn for help?
We need a wake up call to America, to the government leadership and the business community on the threat to our national infrastructure and what can be done to protect our resources and people. It is too late for theories and hypothetical solutions to very real problems of today threatening our standard of living and quality of life.
Cyber Terrorism - Part 2
Media Awareness?
In America there are time-honored traditions for using the media to sell you everything from the news to the latest unnecessary drug. Once upon a time you could distinguish between media’s supposedly unbiased news stories, and those selling goods, services and points of view.
That day is gone. The editorial policy of the media outlet dictates the slant of the news coverage. Revenues rule philosophy and news is no longer a service but a profit center. News content and presentation is designed for ratings, sales and advertising revenue, not objectivity and public good.
In light of this, why is news coverage of cyber terrorism generally limited to technology stories for special interest groups and safely tucked away in the egghead section? Three obvious reasons come to mind. 1.) It is a complex issue. 2.) It might scare the public. And 3.) It might upset the advertisers on the media.
Cyber terrorism is the largest single threat to the quality of life for our citizens. It represents a far greater threat than corporate corruption, government inertia, media bias or bank and phone company service charges. So why are we not being warned about it?
Sure, the cyber world is complex, isn’t all technology? How many consumers know how their air conditioner, television, automobile or computer work? How many know how their money got from a bank into the ATM to them? They don’t. You throw a switch, push a button, or turn a key and it works.
People are not stupid. They don’t need to know how technology works, just what it can do for them. They know all aspects of American life are dependent on the computer, or the electricity that powers the computer. They know we are being bombarded by microwave beams and every other form of electronic signal and frequency to support that technology.
I have a simple way to perceive the cyber world. Our physical world is three dimensional and interpreted by the physical senses. The cyber world is what is beyond the physical realm, is limited only by one’s imagination, and is interpreted by the expanded mind.
As to our concerns cyber terrorism stories would scare the public, so what! One of our constitutional freedoms has always been the right to be scared to death. Stephen King and Dean Koontz wouldn’t sell many books if the public did not want to be scared. Many movies and TV shows were successful because they were very scary.
People pay billions of dollars to be frightened. Supposedly “free” news stories on cyber terrorism would be a great bargain. Sometimes the power of the media to scare people can change our way of life, and sometimes for the better.
Finally, there is the concern that cyber terrorism stories might upset advertisers. Does anyone doubt it? Computer manufacturers, software companies, technology driven companies and companies dependent on communications and advertising for sales are all directly affected. So are services that are electronically dependent like ATM banking, credit cards, phones, etc.
Of course they don’t want stories about how their product can be hacked by terrorists, or how easily services can be disrupted. Billions of dollars in advertising revenue from these companies are poured into the media, the same media that brings you the news. Do you really think “truth” is more powerful than investor confidence or corporate stock valuation?
Those advertising dollars can buy a lot of influence, especially when the advertising and media companies are losing ratings, readers and revenues. As long as the news sources are owned by the same media companies dependent on ad dollars for valuation and survival, there could be a potential conflict of interest. The recent collapse of stock prices, lost advertising revenues, increased cable and digital competition, and fewer viewers or readers have already caused media companies major problems.
They can ill afford to lose more. In spite of all these reasons why the threat of cyber terrorism is not adequately covered by the news media, occasionally there are stories that contribute to understanding the truth. Barton Gellman, Washington Post Staff Writer, wrote a story titled, “Cyber-Attack by Al Qaeda Feared”, published June 27, 2002. It clearly identified the problem. Unfortunately, to find it you had to get to the Internet online technology section of the Washington Post, but at least it was a start.
More recently The National Journal, not the traditional news media, ran a cover story (May 31, 2008) titled China's Cyber-Militia by Shane Harris which discusses how Chinese hackers pose a clear and present danger to the U.S. government and private sector computer networks and may be responsible for two major U.S. power blackouts. The story is reprinted in the CPT.
Cyber Terrorism - Part 3
Who are the hackers?
Most experts seem to agree we face an unprecedented threat from cyber terrorism, and we are all but helpless to stop it. Who are these “hackers” poised to bring the mighty America to its knees through a cyber space assault? Webster’s New World Dictionary defines a hacker as “a talented amateur user of computers, specifically, one who attempts to gain unauthorized access to files in various systems.” I think the definition falls far short.
Hackers are the new Messiahs of the cyber universe immersed in a quest to create like God. The fact they are creating illegal ways to access other people’s files is not a concern to them, as long as they are creating. Still, there is no convenient way to stereotype hackers.
I sense there are at least three distinct types of hacker, the Idealist, the Invisible and the Insidious. Popular books and movies glorify the first type, the Idealist. Hacking secured systems is a challenge to them and when they are successful it is essential they receive proper recognition for their prowess.
The need for peer recognition and ego insure they take credit for their handiwork. But in a distorted way they are not malicious in their intent. Their goal is not the destruction of property or disrupting lives, although that may very well be the consequence of their efforts.
Far more dangerous are the Invisible types. To them successful hacking is not merely to penetrate a secured file or system, but to go undetected in the process. Thus they are able to come and go at will. Government, quasi-government and shadow government agencies fall into this category. They all want to know everything you are doing. There is no system or network in the world safe from their prying eyes.
Thanks to the digital revolution our Constitutional guaranteed Bill of Rights is now obsolete. There is not a phone call, bank transaction or Internet communication safe from big brother. Private corporations have their own Invisible hackers as well so it is not just the government monitoring your life.
Curiously, all those politicians claiming to be defenders of freedom, and that includes Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, are mostly silent about the wholesale invasion of privacy now underway.
Fortunately, the eavesdroppers are so successful at capturing all calls, emails and transactions that the sheer volume is beyond their processing capability. For now our dwindling freedom is protected more as a result of bureaucratic constipation than political action. Super computers will soon eliminate that processing limitation, and everything about your life will be an open book.
The last category of hacker, the Insidious, is the most dangerous. Insidious hackers possess the skills and resources of the Idealist and Invisible hackers, but their motivation is without conscious. To them the art of hacking is a tool to get what they don’t have but want, or for bringing about war and destruction.
Criminals and fanatics, and often they are one in the same, go beyond the game of hacking through computer security barriers. Penetrating the systems is not enough. They steal the information, divert money or damage their targets in a way they cannot be caught. Or, they become cyber mercenaries for a terrorist cause and will use hacking to wreak havoc, devastation and destruction on unsuspecting victims.
Lives destroyed and human deaths resulting are nothing more than digital statistics in a higher cause being served. Unfortunately the combined power, resources and might of the vast American intelligence, law enforcement and defense communities is of no advantage when confronting cyber criminals or cyber terrorists.
The Insidious hacker is incorporeal, without material body or substance in the cyber universe. They have no base of operations, no geographic limitations and no political boundaries to restrict them. You cannot identify them with metal detectors or profiling and you most certainly cannot stop them with current computer security techniques and technology.
What Price for Freedom?
Series by Jim Putnam
We live in a society that dictates the need to protect our selves, families, homes, property and business. America without insurance would be like air without oxygen. It is difficult to find a single aspect of life in America in which protection is not integrated and essential.
Yet our leadership tell us that the most basic services in which our life and lifestyle depends, the infrastructure of the American standard of living, cannot be protected. The necessities of life, food, air, water, housing and transportation, are all vulnerable to terrorist attack.
We can protect the president. We can protect our money, our gold and our treasures. We can even protect our nuclear arsenal and weapons of destruction. But we cannot protect our quality of life and our people from the threat of cyber terrorism.
Former Bush Administration cyber expert Richard Clarke predicts an “Electronic Pearl Harbor” and has blasted the private sector for failing to protect our infrastructure. Yet all experts agree it is a complex issue. Cyber security seems to demand a trade off. More security can be given if we are willing to sacrifice our freedom and privacy.
America’s corporate world, especially the financial and international commerce communities, refuse to accept the government intrusion into their world of corporate secrets for fear the information will be used to tax or prosecute them. Recent examples of corporate greed and abuse suggest there is a lot to hide from the government. Yet the privacy issue is valid.
At the same time, the corporate world has been reluctant to tell us if they have been successfully hacked. To do so would acknowledge they are vulnerable. It would raise doubt as to their ability to protect their records, clients and intellectual property. It would threaten their credit rating and worst of all, it could cause their stock value to fall. Better to cover up the attack than to undermine investor confidence.
Politically, with the federal elections on the horizon and control of the White House in the balance, it is always safer to blame someone else or deflect blame than to assume responsibility. The politicians use the convenient mantra we can’t protect our infrastructure from cyber attack. They blame the private sector for failing to develop adequate security. And they accuse the private sector of refusing to cooperate and of withholding information about cyber vulnerability.
Wouldn’t you refuse to tell the government all your secrets? The government can’t keep it’s own secrets, let alone be trusted with proprietary corporate secrets. Still it is a “Catch 22” that must be overcome for the average citizen to go to sleep at night feeling secure that their essential services are protected from the hands of blood thirsty, hate filled terrorists committed to killing Americans and destroying our way of life.
Because tonight the water supply could be poisoned. Tonight the electrical grid could be shut down and air conditioners would stop working in the heat wave. Nuclear reactors could have a melt down sending clouds of deadly radiation into the air and contaminating the countryside. Air traffic controllers could be stopped from contacting the thousands of planes in the air.
Floodgates on dams could be opened sending billions of gallons of water crashing down on communities. You could wake up tomorrow and your bank records could be gone, your insurance coverage cutoff, and health care disrupted. Raw sewage could be diverted into your drinking water. Emergency calls to 911 could go unanswered.
Because our standard of living is excessive, it takes an excessive infrastructure to support it. Our lifestyle is computer and energy dependent. From the cockpit of an airplane to the control room of a nuclear reactor, the 500 digital TV channels to the cell phone attached to your ear, we need the infrastructure to feed our addiction for more.
The techniques that could be used by a single terrorist cell working through cyber space could threaten the very existence of our national infrastructure. Every single catastrophe I mentioned is possible from a few keystrokes on a keyboard. So if the politicians are not responsible, the government can’t help, and the private sector is in denial, where do you turn for help?
We need a wake up call to America, to the government leadership and the business community on the threat to our national infrastructure and what can be done to protect our resources and people. It is too late for theories and hypothetical solutions to very real problems of today threatening our standard of living and quality of life.
Cyber Terrorism - Part 2
Media Awareness?
In America there are time-honored traditions for using the media to sell you everything from the news to the latest unnecessary drug. Once upon a time you could distinguish between media’s supposedly unbiased news stories, and those selling goods, services and points of view.
That day is gone. The editorial policy of the media outlet dictates the slant of the news coverage. Revenues rule philosophy and news is no longer a service but a profit center. News content and presentation is designed for ratings, sales and advertising revenue, not objectivity and public good.
In light of this, why is news coverage of cyber terrorism generally limited to technology stories for special interest groups and safely tucked away in the egghead section? Three obvious reasons come to mind. 1.) It is a complex issue. 2.) It might scare the public. And 3.) It might upset the advertisers on the media.
Cyber terrorism is the largest single threat to the quality of life for our citizens. It represents a far greater threat than corporate corruption, government inertia, media bias or bank and phone company service charges. So why are we not being warned about it?
Sure, the cyber world is complex, isn’t all technology? How many consumers know how their air conditioner, television, automobile or computer work? How many know how their money got from a bank into the ATM to them? They don’t. You throw a switch, push a button, or turn a key and it works.
People are not stupid. They don’t need to know how technology works, just what it can do for them. They know all aspects of American life are dependent on the computer, or the electricity that powers the computer. They know we are being bombarded by microwave beams and every other form of electronic signal and frequency to support that technology.
I have a simple way to perceive the cyber world. Our physical world is three dimensional and interpreted by the physical senses. The cyber world is what is beyond the physical realm, is limited only by one’s imagination, and is interpreted by the expanded mind.
As to our concerns cyber terrorism stories would scare the public, so what! One of our constitutional freedoms has always been the right to be scared to death. Stephen King and Dean Koontz wouldn’t sell many books if the public did not want to be scared. Many movies and TV shows were successful because they were very scary.
People pay billions of dollars to be frightened. Supposedly “free” news stories on cyber terrorism would be a great bargain. Sometimes the power of the media to scare people can change our way of life, and sometimes for the better.
Finally, there is the concern that cyber terrorism stories might upset advertisers. Does anyone doubt it? Computer manufacturers, software companies, technology driven companies and companies dependent on communications and advertising for sales are all directly affected. So are services that are electronically dependent like ATM banking, credit cards, phones, etc.
Of course they don’t want stories about how their product can be hacked by terrorists, or how easily services can be disrupted. Billions of dollars in advertising revenue from these companies are poured into the media, the same media that brings you the news. Do you really think “truth” is more powerful than investor confidence or corporate stock valuation?
Those advertising dollars can buy a lot of influence, especially when the advertising and media companies are losing ratings, readers and revenues. As long as the news sources are owned by the same media companies dependent on ad dollars for valuation and survival, there could be a potential conflict of interest. The recent collapse of stock prices, lost advertising revenues, increased cable and digital competition, and fewer viewers or readers have already caused media companies major problems.
They can ill afford to lose more. In spite of all these reasons why the threat of cyber terrorism is not adequately covered by the news media, occasionally there are stories that contribute to understanding the truth. Barton Gellman, Washington Post Staff Writer, wrote a story titled, “Cyber-Attack by Al Qaeda Feared”, published June 27, 2002. It clearly identified the problem. Unfortunately, to find it you had to get to the Internet online technology section of the Washington Post, but at least it was a start.
More recently The National Journal, not the traditional news media, ran a cover story (May 31, 2008) titled China's Cyber-Militia by Shane Harris which discusses how Chinese hackers pose a clear and present danger to the U.S. government and private sector computer networks and may be responsible for two major U.S. power blackouts. The story is reprinted in the CPT.
Cyber Terrorism - Part 3
Who are the hackers?
Most experts seem to agree we face an unprecedented threat from cyber terrorism, and we are all but helpless to stop it. Who are these “hackers” poised to bring the mighty America to its knees through a cyber space assault? Webster’s New World Dictionary defines a hacker as “a talented amateur user of computers, specifically, one who attempts to gain unauthorized access to files in various systems.” I think the definition falls far short.
Hackers are the new Messiahs of the cyber universe immersed in a quest to create like God. The fact they are creating illegal ways to access other people’s files is not a concern to them, as long as they are creating. Still, there is no convenient way to stereotype hackers.
I sense there are at least three distinct types of hacker, the Idealist, the Invisible and the Insidious. Popular books and movies glorify the first type, the Idealist. Hacking secured systems is a challenge to them and when they are successful it is essential they receive proper recognition for their prowess.
The need for peer recognition and ego insure they take credit for their handiwork. But in a distorted way they are not malicious in their intent. Their goal is not the destruction of property or disrupting lives, although that may very well be the consequence of their efforts.
Far more dangerous are the Invisible types. To them successful hacking is not merely to penetrate a secured file or system, but to go undetected in the process. Thus they are able to come and go at will. Government, quasi-government and shadow government agencies fall into this category. They all want to know everything you are doing. There is no system or network in the world safe from their prying eyes.
Thanks to the digital revolution our Constitutional guaranteed Bill of Rights is now obsolete. There is not a phone call, bank transaction or Internet communication safe from big brother. Private corporations have their own Invisible hackers as well so it is not just the government monitoring your life.
Curiously, all those politicians claiming to be defenders of freedom, and that includes Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, are mostly silent about the wholesale invasion of privacy now underway.
Fortunately, the eavesdroppers are so successful at capturing all calls, emails and transactions that the sheer volume is beyond their processing capability. For now our dwindling freedom is protected more as a result of bureaucratic constipation than political action. Super computers will soon eliminate that processing limitation, and everything about your life will be an open book.
The last category of hacker, the Insidious, is the most dangerous. Insidious hackers possess the skills and resources of the Idealist and Invisible hackers, but their motivation is without conscious. To them the art of hacking is a tool to get what they don’t have but want, or for bringing about war and destruction.
Criminals and fanatics, and often they are one in the same, go beyond the game of hacking through computer security barriers. Penetrating the systems is not enough. They steal the information, divert money or damage their targets in a way they cannot be caught. Or, they become cyber mercenaries for a terrorist cause and will use hacking to wreak havoc, devastation and destruction on unsuspecting victims.
Lives destroyed and human deaths resulting are nothing more than digital statistics in a higher cause being served. Unfortunately the combined power, resources and might of the vast American intelligence, law enforcement and defense communities is of no advantage when confronting cyber criminals or cyber terrorists.
The Insidious hacker is incorporeal, without material body or substance in the cyber universe. They have no base of operations, no geographic limitations and no political boundaries to restrict them. You cannot identify them with metal detectors or profiling and you most certainly cannot stop them with current computer security techniques and technology.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
THE CPT ILLUSTRATED PRESIDENTIAL POLL OF 2008 - YOU DECIDE!
I am sick of reading and hearing about the polling nonsense every day concerning the presidential election. How many times do the political pundits have to prove how stupid they can be? Political polls in the media have about the same degree of accuracy as the weather man and we all know a single digit IQ qualifies you to be a meterologist.
So we are having our own poll and we are declaring the accuracy to be within 1 to 3% of the accuracy of all those political polls in our face every morning. While they claim statistical accuracy because they use voting age, eligible voters, registered voters and likely voters or whatever might be the fad that morning, we claim statistical accuracy because we simply don't care.
They have a poll sample of between 300 and 2000. Now how in the world can 300-2000 interviews tell you what 300 million people think? So we are conducting a single interview assuming our single citizen does indeed represent a cross section of America. We are going to interview Hillbilly Joe from Coltons Point.
Now some Coltons Pointers are not big on reading, Hillbilly being among them so we are going to use pictures to ask questions in hopes of getting coherent responses. Here is our first Illustrated Presidential Poll of 2008.
CPT: Who do you like for president between these two characters?
Hillbilly: That's it? Those are my only choices? What ever happened to the great American heroes like Ronald Reagan or John Wayne. What happened to America?
CPT: These are the choices the people decided on during the primaries.
Hillbilly: Must be more idiots in America than I thought. Daddy is right, we are being overrun.
CPT: So I guess you are undecided. Which one of these two has the image you want for your president?
Hillbilly: That ain't right man. Somthing just ain't right. Where is my old bomb shelter? We are in deep shit!
CPT: That's okay Hillbilly. How about their position on war, which one is closer to your stand on war of these two?
Hillbilly: Good Lord, are we being punished by Divine Providence or what? One wants to fight and one wants to run. One wants to fight forever and one wants to stop in 16 months. Ain't there no happy medium? Can't we just kick some ass and get it over with like the good old days?
CPT: So you must disagree. How about on the economy?
Hillbilly: What the hell do they know about the economy? They're both on federal welfare aren't they? Both US Senators. And both live off their rich women. McCain should retire to Bora Bora while he can still enjoy his wife and Obama should retire to Hollywood where he can really make some big bucks in movies about presidents.
CPT: So who do you want for president?
Hillbilly: Good thing I ain't got no kids. They'd be cursed by the choices we make this generation. The people didn't nominate these dudes, the media did! So I say pass a law and make the network media stars liable for the next president. Whatever happens they are to blame, not us!
CPT: So who are you going to vote for?
Hillbilly: Are you crazy? I'd lose my lifetime Redneck membership if I backed either one. Ole McCain changes position every day and I ain't got a clue what Obama's position is to begin with. It's like Clinton and Bush. They all came from the same place, speak the same double talk, and think the American public has been taking stupid pills for life!
CPT: What place is that Hillbilly?
Hillbilly: You know, Yale, Harvard, those uppity, uppity Ivy League schools where they are brainwashed from birth. I ain't registered to vote and I ain't voting and that's all there is to it! Now leave me alone dude, I'm going to see Rambo 5 at the movies.
Who Can You Trust?
So we gave you our pick for the Queen of Network News Diane Sawyer, the Kentucky girl who rules ABC News. Diane proved that beauty and brains can be combined when she won the America's Junior Miss scholarship pageant and went on to break down all the doors of television news for women becoming the highest paid woman in network news.
However, not even that is good enough for the CPT Who Do You Trust? honor. The person must demonstrate a strict adherence to the ancient rules of journalism where you are objective, fair, unbiased, and never ever try to advocate a political philosophy or cause. Diane stands alone on network TV in this regard.
Today we are announcing the winner of the cable news Who Do You Trust? honor and once again beauty and brains are packaged in the Queen of Cable News, Robin Meade, anchor of CNN Express morning news. Robin was Miss Ohio and a Miss America finalist and went on to broadcast journalism in Ohio, Florida and Chicago before joining CNN.
You can find her every morning lighting up CNN Headline news where most CNN news personalities will put you to sleep. Many shows on CNN, Fox, MSNBC and whoever claim to be fair, unbiased and no spin but they are liars of course and all have an agenda to push on the unsuspecting public from right wing to left wing, conservative to liberal, and I for one am sick of hearing them tell me what to think.
You want a refreshing, upbeat news report go to Diane or Robin. They stand alone in preserving journalistic integrity. Interesting that they came from neighboring midwestern states.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
What happens if the USA has a Financial Meltdown?
If any other nation of the world faced the financial disasters we faced the last year from the oil price spiral to the housing catastrophe, the doubling of food prices to the largest budget deficit in history they would have been foreclosed, bankrupted and sold at a sheriff's auction.
The leaders would have been strung up from the nearest lamp pole, the people would be rioting in the streets, there would be a breakdown of authority and anarchy would rein supreme. So why are oil prices in a free fall, the stock market soaring, people calm and politicians still in office?
There is one intangible in economics that defies all rules of accounting and all standards of financial integrity. It is an intangible that stands in the face of common wisdom and sinister manipulation. It makes executives buffoons, analysts liars and politicians fools and in the end stands in defense of the helpless and silent majority called citizens.
It is the spirit of a nation born out of revolution, hardened by civil war and awakened by world wars. It is the spirit of freedom that guides the United States and makes it the envy of terrorists and financiers, the super rich and despots, warmongers and human rights violators, and all of those whose lives are grounded in evil and motivated by greed.
The leaders would have been strung up from the nearest lamp pole, the people would be rioting in the streets, there would be a breakdown of authority and anarchy would rein supreme. So why are oil prices in a free fall, the stock market soaring, people calm and politicians still in office?
There is one intangible in economics that defies all rules of accounting and all standards of financial integrity. It is an intangible that stands in the face of common wisdom and sinister manipulation. It makes executives buffoons, analysts liars and politicians fools and in the end stands in defense of the helpless and silent majority called citizens.
It is the spirit of a nation born out of revolution, hardened by civil war and awakened by world wars. It is the spirit of freedom that guides the United States and makes it the envy of terrorists and financiers, the super rich and despots, warmongers and human rights violators, and all of those whose lives are grounded in evil and motivated by greed.
The American Spirit has withstood the test of time and the trials of sacrifice and never faltered from its ferocious defense of freedom, protection of human rights, its sense of fair play, its tolerance of diversity and its foundation in spirituality. True spirit can only come from a higher force like spirituality, a fact our Founding Fathers knew well and our current leaders keep trying to forget.
The United States is not old, it is still young and it will never lose its youthful enthusiasm because our Founding Fathers made it a living, breathing modern nation the day they adopted a Constitution that was the first in world history to be first person present tense.
The USA is the richest, most powerful and still most generous nation on Earth no matter who is the present pretender to the American seat of power (the president) for in truth the president and congress work for the people.
Our nation, under God, has evolved and grown for 232 years making it one of the oldest continuous forms of government yet one of the youngest nations in world history. Our role in the world far surpasses that of being a super power. People want what we have and we buy from others what we need and the result is an economic system that is the most unique, yet most stable in history.
I mentioned in a recent banking article how 15 of the top twenty banks in the world are from Europe. Two others are from Japan, meaning 17 of the top 20 banks in the world are from other nations leaving just 3 of the top 20 from the US. Yet the profits and losses of all those world banks are dictated by the US economy, no one else.
The world would be bankrupt if the US was bankrupt. The vast majority of money in the world is driven by the US economy, what the US needs and what the US generates, and the nations of the world, like it or not, would fade away and die without access to our markets, goods and services.
That is not an indication of arrogance but a statement of fact. We are in a financial mess but one we have faced before and when our leaders prosecute the crooks including those sitting next to them in our seats of power the system will heal and the world will be stabilized for a time.
Pay no attention to the purveyors of doom and gloom in the corporate boardrooms or on the evening news. They do not share our agenda. And we do not share their agenda. In the end they cannot win as their motives are not pure and their actions are not good.
Those that have tried to use the resources of America for personal gain will be stopped. Those whose greed drove them to manipulate markets, fix prices, corrupt associates and bribe officials have had their moment, even disrupted the world economy in the process.
In the end all the true enemies of the US are dependent on the US and cannot allow our country to fall into ruin. We have the only economy capable of making them billions of dollars and of protecting their trillions of dollars of investment in the US. The Spirit of America remains a beacon drawing the people of the world to us and that spirit will continue to dominate the world until it has spread throughout the world.
Another Miracle at Coltons Point?
What is it about this ancient site in Southern Maryland that is the birthplace of religious freedom in America, the site of the first Catholics in English speaking America, the site of the first Jesuits in the continental United States, the site of the first miracle in North America, and the site where the first relics of the Cross of Jesus were brought to the new continent?
This unknown sacred site on the banks of the Potomac came to the attention of the world last spring when the Pope made his first trip to America and St. Clements Island at Coltons Point was mentioned on worldwide television as the birthplace of Christianity in the new world.
Ever since the miraculous healing of the fatally sick son of the leader of the Native Americans back in 1634 when the first Jesuit, Father White, placed the relic of the Cross of Jesus on the dying boy and he came back to life things have been unusual.
Tornadoes hit all around Coltons Point but none hit here. Hurricanes devastate and flood the surrounding area of Maryland and Virginia but there is never much damage here. It was almost 400 years ago that two ships from England brought Christianity, religious freedom, Catholics and Jesuits to this site and things just haven't been the same since.
Our most recent miracle happened just this past Monday when I was driving back to Coltons Point after dropping Hillbilly Joe off at his job. Around 7:00 am I came around the turn by the Catholic Church and there were two cars smashed beyond recognition nearly in front of the church.
One sat crossways in the road and the other was down in a drainage ditch with the driver's door pinned against the earth. The damage was so extensive it was impossible to tell the make of either car. I could see a body hanging out of the car on the road and I pulled over and rushed to the scene.
Car parts were strewn over 100 feet from the point of the collision. There was fluid leaking and moaning coming from both cars. I yelled at a person standing in front of the church paralyzed by shock from the horrific sight to call 911 which she did.
While searching the wreckage site for any sign of fire as fluid was everywhere I propped the guy halfway out of the car up, checked him for bleeding or obvious injuries, and went into the ditch to see if anyone survived the car that had been thrown through the air.
There was a woman pinned behind the steering wheel and trapped in the car as both sides had been crushed in the wreck. She was delirious, but no major arteries had been cut and she was falling in and out of consciousness. To reach her I had to crawl down the ditch and pulled the air bags away from her.
At that point one other person had reached the site and we did what we could to watch for fires while keeping the victims awake and comfortable. In the meantime Father Gurney, the Catholic priest came out of the church and administered Last Rites to the two people as both clearly were on the verge of death.
The woman in the car finally went out stone cold while we were waiting for the emergency vehicles with the jaws of life needed to cut her out of the wreckage. Now the wreck took place in front of the church and the EMS and Fire Departments were less than a mile up the road.
Still it took 20 minutes for the first responders to respond. During that time a fire or injuries could have easily killed the victims as there was no way to get the woman out. It was the longest wait I experienced in my life.
When they did arrive the EMS vehicle seemed to have two young kids and a woman in her 20's and that was the emergency crew. There was a great deal of confusion even after they arrived on how to proceed when there really was no choice, the guy on the road was available to treat while the woman trapped in the ditch needed to be checked.
Within minutes there were several police cars, fire trucks and ambulances on the scene and a committee kept meeting on how to cut apart the car and save the woman who already seemed to be dead or at least knocking on death's door. When they finally started using the jaws of life they seemed to be taking the most difficult path to saving her as they decided to cut the entire roof off the car to get her out.
This unknown sacred site on the banks of the Potomac came to the attention of the world last spring when the Pope made his first trip to America and St. Clements Island at Coltons Point was mentioned on worldwide television as the birthplace of Christianity in the new world.
Ever since the miraculous healing of the fatally sick son of the leader of the Native Americans back in 1634 when the first Jesuit, Father White, placed the relic of the Cross of Jesus on the dying boy and he came back to life things have been unusual.
Tornadoes hit all around Coltons Point but none hit here. Hurricanes devastate and flood the surrounding area of Maryland and Virginia but there is never much damage here. It was almost 400 years ago that two ships from England brought Christianity, religious freedom, Catholics and Jesuits to this site and things just haven't been the same since.
Our most recent miracle happened just this past Monday when I was driving back to Coltons Point after dropping Hillbilly Joe off at his job. Around 7:00 am I came around the turn by the Catholic Church and there were two cars smashed beyond recognition nearly in front of the church.
One sat crossways in the road and the other was down in a drainage ditch with the driver's door pinned against the earth. The damage was so extensive it was impossible to tell the make of either car. I could see a body hanging out of the car on the road and I pulled over and rushed to the scene.
Car parts were strewn over 100 feet from the point of the collision. There was fluid leaking and moaning coming from both cars. I yelled at a person standing in front of the church paralyzed by shock from the horrific sight to call 911 which she did.
While searching the wreckage site for any sign of fire as fluid was everywhere I propped the guy halfway out of the car up, checked him for bleeding or obvious injuries, and went into the ditch to see if anyone survived the car that had been thrown through the air.
There was a woman pinned behind the steering wheel and trapped in the car as both sides had been crushed in the wreck. She was delirious, but no major arteries had been cut and she was falling in and out of consciousness. To reach her I had to crawl down the ditch and pulled the air bags away from her.
At that point one other person had reached the site and we did what we could to watch for fires while keeping the victims awake and comfortable. In the meantime Father Gurney, the Catholic priest came out of the church and administered Last Rites to the two people as both clearly were on the verge of death.
The woman in the car finally went out stone cold while we were waiting for the emergency vehicles with the jaws of life needed to cut her out of the wreckage. Now the wreck took place in front of the church and the EMS and Fire Departments were less than a mile up the road.
Still it took 20 minutes for the first responders to respond. During that time a fire or injuries could have easily killed the victims as there was no way to get the woman out. It was the longest wait I experienced in my life.
When they did arrive the EMS vehicle seemed to have two young kids and a woman in her 20's and that was the emergency crew. There was a great deal of confusion even after they arrived on how to proceed when there really was no choice, the guy on the road was available to treat while the woman trapped in the ditch needed to be checked.
Within minutes there were several police cars, fire trucks and ambulances on the scene and a committee kept meeting on how to cut apart the car and save the woman who already seemed to be dead or at least knocking on death's door. When they finally started using the jaws of life they seemed to be taking the most difficult path to saving her as they decided to cut the entire roof off the car to get her out.
Twenty more precious minutes passes before they completed the mission and twice they had to stop cutting and use axes to try and smash the windshield loose and then to crease the roof so they could bend it back. Both times the jolt of the axes and debris from the blows had to be affecting the woman trapped under the roof.
Later I learned that early morning calls to our all volunteer EMS and Fire Departments are the most difficult to fill because most of the veteran officers are at their regular jobs and only a skeleton staff is left. Helicopters came and landed in the field by the school and flew the two victims to the nearest trauma center about an hour after the wreck.
As for the miracle? The seventy-four year old woman we thought might be dead returned to consciousness as they were pulling her out of the wreckage and she looked at Father Gurney and I and waved. When the helicopter got her to the trauma center the only injury they could find was a broken wrist and by the next day she went home. The guy was recovering as well.
If you looked at the cars you would have said no one could survive such a wreck as neither car could be identified in the tangled mess. A high-speed head-on collision left the vehicles obliterated and the occupants should have been crushed. The 20 minute wait for emergency crews with the woman trapped, gas leaking and sparks flying should have resulted in an explosion and fire. When she lost consciousness and the priest gave her the Last Sacraments there seemed to be no life force left in her. Yet she awoke, waved to us, then walked out of the trauma center the next day with only a broken wrist.
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As for me, as the helicopter flew away I went home thinking the whole thing seemed like a dream sequence. The things that can happen before your first cup of coffee. Then CuChulainn, my Irish Wolfhound, explained to me that Coltons Point is a mystical and mysterious place indeed.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Oil Hits Seven Week Low - How Low Can It Go?
Last Friday oil continued its two week decline bottoming out at $123.40 for US crude and $124.39 for Brent crude, both down over $2.00 for the day. Oil peaked two weeks ago at a record $147.37 a barrel and has been falling ever since.
So what does this mean to the consumer? The rule of thumb is the price of a gallon of gas should drop 2.5 cents for every one dollar drop in a barrel of oil. Thus gas prices should fall 57.5 cents a gallon based on the decline we have already seen.
It has dropped about 14 cents meaning a true market adjustment should see an additional fall of gas prices of around 43 cents, driving the average price from $3.94 to $3.51. This should conveniently happen before the November election with about 25 cents by September.
So what does this mean to the consumer? The rule of thumb is the price of a gallon of gas should drop 2.5 cents for every one dollar drop in a barrel of oil. Thus gas prices should fall 57.5 cents a gallon based on the decline we have already seen.
It has dropped about 14 cents meaning a true market adjustment should see an additional fall of gas prices of around 43 cents, driving the average price from $3.94 to $3.51. This should conveniently happen before the November election with about 25 cents by September.
Now that is if prices remain as they are today. I expect prices to fall to about $90 a barrel by election day, meaning an additional $34 reduction in oil and an additional 85 cents in gas. By all rights our gas should cost about $2.68 a gallon by the time the next president is settled in at the White House.
Why does it take so long for gas prices to fall? Well the oil refiners and gas retailers benefit the least from high gas prices so they are taking their time lowering prices in order to get a little of the oil profits so greedily grabbed already by the speculators and producers.
So if the market forces cannot explain the high oil prices what is the reason? Read my article on the financial institutions. It may help shed some light.
Who Will Fall Next? Banks and the Credit Crisis
So who are the largest investment banks in the world?
1. Bank of America
2. Citigroup
3. JP Morgan
4. HSBC
5. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
6. Royal Bank of Scotland Group
7. ING Group
8. Credit Agricole
9. Wachovia
10. BNP Paribus SA
How about the top brokers in the world?
1. JP Morgan Chase & Co.
2. Goldman, Sachs & Co.
3. Citigroup
4. UBS
5. Bank of America
6. Lehman Brothers
7. Merrill Lynch
8. Morgan Stanley
9. Bear Stearns
10. Credit Suisse
Finally who are the largest banks in the world?
1. UBS AG - Switzerland
2. Barclays - UK
3. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group - UK
4. Deutsche Bank AG - Germany
5. BNP Paribus SA - France
6. The Bank of Toyko Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. - Japan
7. ABN AMPRO Holding NV - Netherlands
8. Societe Generale - France
9. Credit Agricole SA - France
10. Bank of America NA - USA
11. JP Morgan Chase Bank National Association - USA
12. Banco Santander Central Hispano SA - Spain
13. Unicredito Italiano SpA - Italy
14. Credit Suisse Group - Switzerland
15. Citibank NA - USA
16. ING Bank NV - Netherlands
17. Bank of Scotland - UK
18. Fortis Bank NV/SA - Belgium
19. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation - Japan
20. HSBC Bank plc - UK
Notice the names appearing on all three lists? How about the fact that four of the top 20 banks in the world are UK, three from France, two from Switzerland, two from the Netherlands, and one each from Germany, Spain, Italy and Belgium. Hummm, 15 of the 20 largest banks in the world are from Europe.
So there is a concentration of wealth but also a concentration of credit exposure. So far these banks have lost billions of dollars from investing in the US sub-prime mortgage market and the credit crisis but do we really know the scope of the crisis?
Losses of nearly $400 billion have already been written off from sub-prime mortgages. A confidential study by Bridgewater Associates, the second largest hedge fund in the world expects total losses from the credit crisis to reach $1.6 trillion, yes trillion. That is four times the current staggering losses.
One of these major players has already gone under (Bear Stearns) and more can be expected if the credit losses approach that level. In fact one of the major players, Fortis Bank, expects a collapse of the US financial markets with 6,000 US banks filing bankruptcy and major corporations like General Motors and Citigroup becoming victims to the US financial meltdown.
Very quietly 7 US banks have already gone bankrupt this year but are we prepared for a massive meltdown? Today the Bush administration announced we face the largest budget deficit in history. Oil prices are out of sight and housing prices are collapsing. Perhaps the meltdown is already well underway.
Of course many of these institutions are on the earlier list I published of the financial institutions that have paid billions of dollars in fines for fraud, price fixing and other economic high jinks that used to land you in jail but now just get you a slap on the wrist and a tax deduction.
Many of these banks already recovered billions of dollars of losses with their manipulation of the oil futures market so maybe the projections of Fortis have to be updated by adjusting them for the billions of dollars already stolen from the citizens of the world at the gas pumps.
Will we ever reach the point where our financial institutions won't have to steal, manipulate and defraud the public in order to cover their losses from creative stock frauds which should never have happened in the first place if the government regulators were doing their job? Stay tuned for Armageddon.
Olympics Just Days Away
The greatest gathering of athletes in the history of the world is about to take place at the XXIX Olympics in Beijing, China with 10,500 athletes competing in 302 events in 28 sports. NBC Network will be televising the event and all network executives have their fingers crossed that viewers will actually be able to see them.
Did I mention that China, one of the world's fastest growing economies does not really believe in environmental regulation nor human rights but those issues are being kept from the public as much as possible. Unfortunately, years of environmental abuse in China has left the air in Beijing so polluted that a total ban on automobiles in one of the largest cities in the world is being considered.
Did I mention that China, one of the world's fastest growing economies does not really believe in environmental regulation nor human rights but those issues are being kept from the public as much as possible. Unfortunately, years of environmental abuse in China has left the air in Beijing so polluted that a total ban on automobiles in one of the largest cities in the world is being considered.
It would take such drastic action along with an order to shut down all the polluting factories in Beijing to clear the air enough for television cameras to see what the athletes are doing in the events. So enjoy what you can see of the Olympics and don't be upset if you can't see the faces of your favorite athletes because they most likely will be buried behind face masks to protect them from the pollution.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Randy Pausch, 47; terminally ill professor inspired many with his 'last lecture'
(Valerie Nelson of the LA Times reports this next story better than anyone.)
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-pausch26-2008jul26,0,1202748.story
From the Los Angeles Times
OBITUARY
Randy Pausch, 47; terminally ill professor inspired many with his 'last lecture'
His speech at Carnegie Mellon University after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis became an Internet phenomenon and bestselling book.
By Valerie J. Nelson
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 26, 2008
Randy Pausch, a terminally ill professor whose earnest farewell lecture at Carnegie Mellon University became an Internet phenomenon and bestselling book that turned him into a symbol for living and dying well, died Friday.
He was 47.Pausch, a computer science professor and virtual-reality pioneer, died at his home in Chesapeake, Va., of complications from pancreatic cancer, the Pittsburgh university announced. When Pausch agreed to give the talk, he was participating in a long-standing academic tradition that calls on professors to share their wisdom in a theoretical "last lecture."
A month before the speech, the 46-year-old Pausch was told he had only months to live, a prognosis that heightened the poignancy of his address. Delivered last September to about 400 students and colleagues, his message about how to make the most of life has been viewed by millions on the Internet. Pausch gave an abbreviated version of it on "Oprah" and expanded it into a best-selling book, "The Last Lecture," released in April.
Yet Pausch insisted that both the spoken and written words were designed for an audience of three: his children, then 5, 2 and 1."I was trying to put myself in a bottle that would one day wash up on the beach for my children," Pausch wrote in his book.
Unwilling to take time from his family to pen the book, Pausch hired a coauthor, Jeffrey Zaslow, a Wall Street Journal writer who had covered the lecture. During more than 50 bicycle rides crucial to his health, Pausch spoke to Zaslow on a cellphone headset.
"The speech made him famous all over the world," Zaslow told The Times. "It was almost a shared secret, a peek into him telling his colleagues and students to go on and do great things. It touched so many people because it was authentic.
"Thousands of strangers e-mailed Pausch to say they found his upbeat lecture, laced with humor, to be inspiring and life-changing. They drank up the sentiments of a seemingly vibrant terminally ill man, a showman with Jerry Seinfeld-esque jokes and an earnest Jimmy Stewart delivery. If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you. He used that line after projecting CT scans, complete with helpful arrows pointing to the tumors on his liver as he addressed "the elephant in the room" that made every word carry more weight.
Some people believe that those who are dying may be especially insightful because they must make every moment count. Some are drawn to valedictories like the one Pausch gave because they offer a spiritual way to grapple with mortality that isn't based in religion.
Sandra Yarlott, director of spiritual care at UCLA Medical Center, said researchers, including Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, have observed that work done by dying patients "resonates with people in that timeless place deep within." As Pausch essentially said goodbye at Carnegie Mellon, he touched on just about everything but religion while raucously reliving how he achieved most of his childhood dreams. His ambitions included experiencing the weightlessness of zero gravity; writing an article in the World Book Encyclopedia ("You can tell the nerds early on," he joked); wanting to be both a Disney Imagineer and Captain Kirk from "Star Trek"; and playing professional football.
Onstage, Pausch was a frenetic verbal billboard, delivering as many one-liners as he did phrases to live by. Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. When his virtual-reality students at Carnegie Mellon won a flight in a NASA training plane that briefly simulates weightlessness, Pausch was told faculty members were not allowed to fly. Finding a loophole, he applied to cover it as his team's hometown Web journalist -- and got his 25 seconds of floating.
Since 1997, Pausch had been a professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design at Carnegie Mellon. With a drama professor, he founded the university's Entertainment Technology Center, which teams students from the arts with those in technology to develop projects. The popular professor had an "enormous and lasting impact" on Carnegie Mellon, said Jared L. Cohon, the university's president, in a statement. He pointed out that Pausch's "love of teaching, his sense of fun and his brilliance" came together in his innovative software program, Alice, which uses animated characters and storytelling to make it easier to learn to write computer code.
During the lecture, Pausch joked that he had become just enough of an expert to fulfill one childhood ambition. World Book sought him out to write its virtual-reality entry. He didn't get to be Captain Kirk, but actor William Shatner, who played the starship commander, visited Pausch's lab at Carnegie Mellon. Pausch believed that watching Kirk had taught him leadership skills. After the speech, Pausch was given a walk-on role in the "Star Trek" film due out in 2009.Inside the auditorium, Pausch dared the crowd to overcome obstacles.
The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people.After his applications to become a Disney Imagineer were repeatedly rejected, Pausch said, he talked his way into spending a sabbatical in the mid-1990s at the company's virtual-reality studio. He helped design such virtual-reality rides as Aladdin's Magic Carpet at Walt Disney World.
Randolph Frederick Pausch was born Oct. 23, 1960, in Baltimore and said he won the "parent lottery" with Fred and Virginia Pausch. His father sold insurance and his mother taught English. As a teenager growing up in Columbia, Md., he was allowed to paint whatever he wanted on his bedroom walls. His artistry included a quadratic equation, elevator doors and the rocket ship that adorns the cover of his book.
After graduating from Brown University with a bachelor's degree in 1982, Pausch earned a doctorate in computer science from Carnegie Mellon in 1988. At the University of Virginia, he taught for nine years. When he got tenure, he thanked his research team by taking members to Disney World. Although he didn't make it to the NFL, Pausch said playing high school football taught him to master fundamentals and accept criticism. A month after his speech, the Pittsburgh Steelers invited him to a practice. Pausch caught passes, grinning ear to ear.
Last fall, he moved his family to southeastern Virginia so that Jai, his wife of eight years, could be near relatives. He tried to "build memories" with his children, taking his oldest, Dylan, to ride a dolphin and introducing his son Logan to Mickey Mouse at Disney World. For his final Halloween, his family -- including his youngest, daughter Chloe -- went as the animated characters the Incredibles, personifying his end-of-life mantra: We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.
With the newfound status the speech bestowed on him, Pausch called attention to the need for cancer research, appearing before Congress in March and filming a fundraising spot for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. The same friends who called him "St. Randy" to poke fun at his media image were "not surprised that he's moving the world," Zaslow said. "They always thought he was special. Even his doctor said, 'If I picked one patient who would become famous and inspire the world, it would be him.' "Weeks after his book was released, 2.3 million copies of it were in print. It is being published in 29 languages.
By the book's end, Pausch sounds like a parent imparting advice as fast as he can. The chapters grow shorter as he tries to fit it all in: Don't obsess over what people think. No job is beneath you. Tell the truth. Ever the comedian, Pausch delighted in his mother's use of humor to keep him humble.
After I got my PhD, my mother took great relish in introducing me as, "This is my son. He's a doctor, but not the kind that helps people. "His mother couldn't have been more wrong. In addition to his wife and children, he is survived by his mother and a sister. Donations may be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, www.pancan.org, or to Carnegie Mellon's Randy Pausch Memorial Fund, www.cmu.edu/giving/pausch.
valerie.nelson@latimes.com
The Case of the Mysterious Satellite Signal
I have basic cable like many Americans because I cannot afford the many levels of premium packages, because I need cable for the high-speed internet connection, and because the program choices on cable seem rather stupid, condescending and patronizing.
Coltons Point is one of the last outposts of wilderness in the Eastern USA so cable was a recent technological advance here. We still have no DSL on phone lines. Fact is we have no fiber optic wiring at all as the phone system is based on ancient boxes set on the ground which short out every flood or hurricane.
No cell phone towers in Coltons Point either. You have to drive 12 miles to get to the nearest cell phone reception zone meaning we remain free of radiation bombarding our brains. Here we have no technological excuse for being stupid. Yet we are only 60 miles from our nation's capitol, as in Washington, D.C. for those not historically correct.
Basic cable now means you get no cable channels, just the local network, public access and PBS stations. Not even CNN, Fox News or the Weather Channel are on basic cable. I think Congress, who regulates the telecommunications industry and sets the license requirements for broadcasters, should tell them to quit lying. There is no cable in basic cable. It is just a convenient way to charge people for the free channels in their area.
Coltons Point is also a magical place where very strange things can happen. Ever since the shipload of English arrived back in the year 1634 at Clements Island just off Coltons Point there have been strange things happening. For those of you short on history that was before New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Chicago and Los Angeles even existed.
The latest strange miracle is the mysterious case of the wayward satellite signal. If you want to pay for television and be a player in the 500 channel digital broadcast game you must have a digital television and you must have access to the 500 channels through either digital cable service or satellite television. To play you have to get a cable or satellite dish installed and be willing to pay between $35 and $200 a month for no one knows how much they are really being charged.
Now technology 101 teaches you need a cable for cable television and a satellite dish for satellite television. Digital television sets have about a thousand stations available on the super remote controls. Older sets may have 125 channels available. Even older sets have 99 channels as they could not figure out how to get three digits of channels. I have an even older set.
A couple of weeks ago I was scanning my six basic channels when a strange message appeared on the screen saying my satellite signal had failed and I needed to readjust the satellite dish. I had satellite television before and the damn dish needed to be readjusted every time the wind blew or the rain was too hard so I knew what the message meant. I just didn't have a satellite dish to adjust on my cable TV.
Still it made me curious so I started checking to see how many blank channels had the same message. Remember, my basic cable left 93 blank channels out of 99 possible. When I got past the basic channels to my complete astonishment every single cable channel except the pay channels for movies, sports or porn I guess appeared on my screen.
I've heard of wires being crossed before but never have I heard of an old television set with basic cable and no satellite suddenly start receiving satellite signals. Besides, this is a case of wires and wireless being crossed which makes for an interesting physics challenge.
So Obama goes to Europe and I get satellite television on my cable tv. This must be some kind of sign of enlightenment. Maybe we should get him elected. Even the rednecks that don't like him might like the free World Wrestling Mania, the Saturday Night Slam Down or whatever it is they watch.
I don't see how they can charge me for satellite tv when I don't have a satellite dish. This momentary miracle has given me a chance to go back and see if television programming has advanced since I last had cable or satellite service.
Fat chance. If anything the standards are far less. The shows are stupid or a copy of something that worked once upon a time. Tell Congress things are so bad we now need a warning to appear on every television show; "The Surgeon General has determined that watching digital television not only causes tumors but also destroys brain cells causing intellectual constipation. If you have not already destroyed all your brain cells you should turn off your television and start taking all those prescription drugs.
Obama Conquers Europe - Is America Next?
Over 200,000 Germans watch as Obama walks along the podium on his way to address the world. It was the highlight of his whirlwind trip from Afganistan to Iraq, Israel to Germany to France and England.
Memo to John McCain: Stop whining and start giving us a reason to take you more seriously than Obama. Ever since Obama left for the war zones and Europe McCain has been complaining about the press coverage, complaining about the policies Obama has announced, complaining about being assigned the junior varsity of the news corps since all the media stars were with Obama in Europe and complaining about every word uttered by Obama on the trip.
His "good old boy" approach to the campaign does nothing to tell us why he should be elected as the most powerful person in the world, how he will improve the image of America around the world, or how he will end the wars and stop all the special interests who are running and funding his campaign. We need solutions to problems. We need a leader who can motivate us to do good. We need a president who will go after the crooks in our financial, oil, medical, pharmaceutical, entertainment and media industries.
I thought it was pretty amazing to see an American speaking to over 200,000 Germans in Berlin and being applauded. When I see polls that say two-thirds of Europeans want Obama to be the next president I think the fact the rest of the world is taking such an interest in our election is an indication of the power of the United States and the role they hope to see for America in leading the world.
Think about it, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and England have been around about a thousand years longer than the USA. Yet in all their amazing history they have never had a minority leader, whether president, prime minister, king or queen. Only the USA, the newest kid on the block, has taken such a quantum leap forward to be seriously considering electing the first minority president in world history in a Western democratic or capitalistic society.
The people of the world stand in awe of our political system that practices what it preaches, that all people are free and everyone has an equal opportunity to be president. I happen to think that is quite extraordinary and our founding fathers should be smiling down on the land of freedom and opportunity they helped create.
There are one hundred days until the election. Both candidates have plenty of time and money to make their case to be the next leader of our nation. Let us hope they use that time and money to give us positive reasons to elect them, not negative reasons to not elect their opponent.
The United States is the sole world super power because we can stand united behind a cause for good, be more creative and innovative than any other nation when we set our mind to it, and we are the most compassionate and caring people on Earth. As long as the world is watching with such interest, let us give them an election they will never forget.
Not to be outdone by Obama, McCain is shown here meeting with the Dali Lama while Obama was meeting with the Germans, French and English. He used the occasion with this man of peace to blast Obama for his trip and to challenge the images of the wonderful reception he received in Europe.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Letters to the Editor
I got a letter from Cathe the other day asking why no new articles have been published lately. Letters to the editor are rather rare here at the Coltons Point Times but are greatly appreciated as it is the only indication people are reading and finding the stories to be of value.
So I told her I broke my brain and had to take time for repairs but the break happened at a good time as everything in the news was predictable. Truth is I was taking a break while the world caught up with my previous articles.
We made a number of predictions and suggestions on a variety of issues and it seemed as if the government was never going to get around to doing their job but slowly, often grudgingly, they seem to be getting in gear.
I suspect some of the movement by the bureaucrats might be they realize in a few months they may have a new boss and they better do something to justify their existence. There is also the calls for change by the presidential candidates and the strange policy reversals of late by President Bush that have changed things.
The Race for President
In March we called the Democratic primary and even the general election naming Obama the winner of both. The first already happened and the second is well underway. Of course the news media says the race between Obama and McCain is only a 4 percent lead for Obama. We addressed that in an article on polling stating that polls will not be accurate until after September 1 at which time we expect Obama to surge to a 15% lead and never look back.
The Oil Price Rise
For nearly two years we urged investigation of price manipulation of the futures market and finally, this week, the federal government announced the first of what could be many indictments for illegal price fixing. An expansive investigation is already underway.
The Housing Crisis
Also long ago we pointed out the impending collapse of the housing market because of over priced real estate and the proliferation of Wall street, the banks and investment houses in scam sub-prime mortgages. Well the house of cards did collapse at a cost of well over $300 billion. We urged extensive prosecutions of the mortgage, banking and financial sectors and they have also begun.
The many articles covered a host of sins ranging from medical costs to environmental issues, prescription drugs to vaccines. We pointed out that new born children now receive 26 vaccinations by the time they are two years old. No wonder our immune systems have broken down. The average older American now takes six prescription drugs a day.
We are over regulated, over stimulated, over manipulated and over weight and still we listen to the maniacs every evening on the news singing the praises for the quality of life in America while their networks suck every last advertising dollar from the guilty parties.
Television programs on our 500 channels are the dumbest collective bunch of nonsense in history, video games are the most crass and destructive forces ever inflicted on mankind, violent crime is glorified on local news and corporate crime is covered up on network news.
The price of oil and food goes up every time anything in the world goes wrong even if it has no effect on oil and food prices. Still we send the same people back to congress and our state legislatures as if they have no responsibility for all the corruption and greed that dominates our world.
Well I don't know if President Obama can change things as he will still be stuck with the same congress but he certainly can't do any worse than the last few presidents. I presented a program to Take Back America which starts to address all the freedom, choices and morality we have given up but a positive approach to problem solving has no place in a world that dwells on the negative and glorifies greed.
Still the population of Coltons Point is a couple of hundred and there are over 7,000 readers of the Coltons Point Times, not to mention the many web sites that place my articles on them so at least several thousand people are starting to look for the truth.
In order to serve that purpose and make certain Cathe has something of value to read we are now rested and will not rest again until the crooks have been driven from the capitol, from Wall Street, from television and radio, and even from the pulpits.
We will not rest until you get medical help to heal you, not keep treating you until your insurance runs out. When owning a home means something. When education actually teaches. When speculation in oil and food is stopped because such greedy speculators are threatening our national security. When foreign aid goes to countries that help us lower the cost of oil. And all that other stuff.
So I told her I broke my brain and had to take time for repairs but the break happened at a good time as everything in the news was predictable. Truth is I was taking a break while the world caught up with my previous articles.
We made a number of predictions and suggestions on a variety of issues and it seemed as if the government was never going to get around to doing their job but slowly, often grudgingly, they seem to be getting in gear.
I suspect some of the movement by the bureaucrats might be they realize in a few months they may have a new boss and they better do something to justify their existence. There is also the calls for change by the presidential candidates and the strange policy reversals of late by President Bush that have changed things.
The Race for President
In March we called the Democratic primary and even the general election naming Obama the winner of both. The first already happened and the second is well underway. Of course the news media says the race between Obama and McCain is only a 4 percent lead for Obama. We addressed that in an article on polling stating that polls will not be accurate until after September 1 at which time we expect Obama to surge to a 15% lead and never look back.
The Oil Price Rise
For nearly two years we urged investigation of price manipulation of the futures market and finally, this week, the federal government announced the first of what could be many indictments for illegal price fixing. An expansive investigation is already underway.
The Housing Crisis
Also long ago we pointed out the impending collapse of the housing market because of over priced real estate and the proliferation of Wall street, the banks and investment houses in scam sub-prime mortgages. Well the house of cards did collapse at a cost of well over $300 billion. We urged extensive prosecutions of the mortgage, banking and financial sectors and they have also begun.
The many articles covered a host of sins ranging from medical costs to environmental issues, prescription drugs to vaccines. We pointed out that new born children now receive 26 vaccinations by the time they are two years old. No wonder our immune systems have broken down. The average older American now takes six prescription drugs a day.
We are over regulated, over stimulated, over manipulated and over weight and still we listen to the maniacs every evening on the news singing the praises for the quality of life in America while their networks suck every last advertising dollar from the guilty parties.
Television programs on our 500 channels are the dumbest collective bunch of nonsense in history, video games are the most crass and destructive forces ever inflicted on mankind, violent crime is glorified on local news and corporate crime is covered up on network news.
The price of oil and food goes up every time anything in the world goes wrong even if it has no effect on oil and food prices. Still we send the same people back to congress and our state legislatures as if they have no responsibility for all the corruption and greed that dominates our world.
Well I don't know if President Obama can change things as he will still be stuck with the same congress but he certainly can't do any worse than the last few presidents. I presented a program to Take Back America which starts to address all the freedom, choices and morality we have given up but a positive approach to problem solving has no place in a world that dwells on the negative and glorifies greed.
Still the population of Coltons Point is a couple of hundred and there are over 7,000 readers of the Coltons Point Times, not to mention the many web sites that place my articles on them so at least several thousand people are starting to look for the truth.
In order to serve that purpose and make certain Cathe has something of value to read we are now rested and will not rest again until the crooks have been driven from the capitol, from Wall Street, from television and radio, and even from the pulpits.
We will not rest until you get medical help to heal you, not keep treating you until your insurance runs out. When owning a home means something. When education actually teaches. When speculation in oil and food is stopped because such greedy speculators are threatening our national security. When foreign aid goes to countries that help us lower the cost of oil. And all that other stuff.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
BIG BROWN TRIPLE CROWN BID FAILS
Big Brown stunned the world with his loss in the Belmont race for the Triple Crown. His loss so overshadowed the victor of the race that no one remembers who won. The horse racing analysts are having a field day explaining what happened to the powerful Big Brown but we at the CPT know the truth.
This horse wins every time the jockey lets the horse run his race. He did it in the Kentucky Derby and again in the Preakness. But in the Belmont the jockey decided to let the horse know who was in charge, a fatal mistake. Big Brown was about to settle on the rail for a long haul, one in which he surely would have run down the leaders as they faded toward the end, when the jockey jerked his head toward the rail.
As they flew down the track Big Brown looked back at the jockey with the most disgusted look I have ever seen on a face. He continued with his head up and glancing back at the jockey as he moved off the rail around the other horses.
The last thing anyone should do is change a horse during the most important race of its life. Like triple-crown champion Secretariat, Big Brown was well aware of what it took to win and how to achieve it. Each race in the triple-crown Secretariat ran differently and Big Brown was doing the same, until there was human interference. Now the horse was third on the outside.
This horse wins every time the jockey lets the horse run his race. He did it in the Kentucky Derby and again in the Preakness. But in the Belmont the jockey decided to let the horse know who was in charge, a fatal mistake. Big Brown was about to settle on the rail for a long haul, one in which he surely would have run down the leaders as they faded toward the end, when the jockey jerked his head toward the rail.
Still the horse recovered and was focused on riding the rail when the jockey looked at the horse next to him and made the fateful decision to change the race and take Big Brown off the rail to the outside.
With his ears laid back Big Brown was ready for the fight but the jockey was not content to let the powerful horse have his way and again jerked the reins, this time slowing the horse and sending him to the outside around two other horses just after the first turn. Big Brown actually was being asked to slow down early in the race and then circle outside behind the leader. A really strange strategy in such a long race. Suddenly the ears went straight up as he was slowed and then eased to the outside.
As they flew down the track Big Brown looked back at the jockey with the most disgusted look I have ever seen on a face. He continued with his head up and glancing back at the jockey as he moved off the rail around the other horses.
The last thing anyone should do is change a horse during the most important race of its life. Like triple-crown champion Secretariat, Big Brown was well aware of what it took to win and how to achieve it. Each race in the triple-crown Secretariat ran differently and Big Brown was doing the same, until there was human interference. Now the horse was third on the outside.
By the last turn of the longest race in the triple-crown the jockey had Big Brown way to the outside, meaning he had to run much farther than any other horse. Big Brown quit because he knew how to win and was not about to let the jockey tell him different. Will we ever learn to trust the instinct of animals?
This is what his trainer had to say about the race. Dutrow — who spoke publicly for the first time since the Belmont, telling The Daily Racing Form he feels “like a loser” — said this regarding Desormeaux’s ride. He told the racing publication that he did not know why Desormeaux had to ease the horse at the top of the stretch. Dutrow said he was sure that Big Brown had no idea “what the hell was going on going into the first turn,” because Desormeaux “was switching him all over” the track. “I don’t know what he was doing,” Dutrow said.
If the trainer was confused how in the world could the horse have known what to do? The only time Big Brown was running his race, when he was finally settled at the rail in photo 3 his ears were laid back and he was focused. By the time the mixed signals from the jockey had him going to the outside his ears are straight up, a sign of confusion and frustration. For comparison, the following is the stretch run at the Kentucky Derby when he was left alone. Note the ears are way back as the horse thunders to victory.
So Affirmed remains as the last triple-crown champion and it will now be at least 31 years since the last winner.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
OBAMA BEGINS MAGICAL QUEST
Barack Obama has secured the Democratic nomination and now begins his magical quest to become the first Black president in the history of the United States. On March 6 The Coltons Point Times declared Obama would be the Democratic candidate and would become the 44th President of the United States. As we said in the earlier story:
WHY BARACK OBAMA WILL BE THE 44TH PRESIDENT OF THE USA!
The Lincoln Connection
In his Second Inaugural Address March 4, 1865 President Abraham Lincoln said the following:
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
Such words of Abraham Lincoln seem as valid today as they did 143 years ago so perhaps the hand of destiny may play a part in this election. Whoever wins will become president in time to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth on February 12, 1809. The fact Lincoln lived in Illinois throughout his career is another interesting parallel with Barack Obama.
The artwork preceding this article depict Lincoln and Obama in Springfield, Illinois and in time may depict them in our nation's capitol. His success in the general election and as president will be dependent on whether he grows into the role of leader of the strongest nation in the world. Many such as Lincoln and John Kennedy have done so and there is no reason to expect otherwise.
Obama has already done what no Bush has ever accomplished, defeated the powerful Clinton machine and he started as an unknown while the senior Bush was the incumbent president. So do not underestimate the maturity of our young presidential candidate. He understands the need to break from the past and the need to embrace the future.
His first test will be selecting a vice president and Hillary supporters aside, as she more than anyone represents the link to the past, he needs to make a mature, reasoned selection that will complement his portfolio and strengthen his administration. We believe the best choice for Obama will be former Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia.
Not only was Sam Nunn one of the most respected members of the US Senate but he has fought his entire political career for the elimination of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons throughout the world and is responsible for eliminating over 5,600 nuclear warheads from the American war machine. His age, 70, and experience make him most complimentary to the Obama ticket and his early retirement from the Senate because he felt he was not accomplishing anything demonstrated his commitment to his beliefs.
Stay tuned as history is made in America.
Monday, June 02, 2008
U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY PAULSON FUELS OIL PRICE CONSPIRACY
The Bush Administration continues to ignore the realities of world oil prices as spokesperson Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on June 1 that oil price increases are due to “supply and demand” issues. Just a couple of days earlier the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal regulatory agency, announced a massive criminal investigation of price manipulation in the oil futures markets.
The CFTC indicated the investigation had been quietly launched six months earlier and the announcement sent shock waves through the financial sector. The Coltons Point Times has written 14 articles about the financial manipulation of the oil futures markets over the past 18 months so we are pleased a federal agency has actually started the process.
However, the CFTC may not have the ability nor the resources to undertake such a massive investigation as their targets would have to be the largest financial organizations in the world. We already disclosed that equity owners of the London oil futures market, ICE, which is a USA company but not subject to federal regulation, include two of the largest investment houses in the world, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, three of the largest oil companies in the world, Royal Dutch Shell, BP Amoco and Total Fina Elf, and two of Europe’s leading financial institutions, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale.
The price manipulations under investigation could be the result of actions by these and all the other top financial houses and oil companies in the world and the CFTC says it has just five lead counsels to handle the cases. There are already over forty investigations launched. To give you an idea of the limits of the CFTC a spokesperson testified just ten days ago before a Senate Committee and listed reasons for the record oil price as “the weak U.S. dollar, demand from emerging economies, world unrest, bad weather and supply disruptions.” No mention was made of financial manipulations.
Now Secretary Paulson should have known about the CFTC investigation before he spoke, everyone else in the world knew. Paulson used to head Goldman Sachs, one of the certain targets of the investigation, and he knew Goldman Sachs was one of the owners of the oil futures market. Are the Bush people really that disconnected from reality or is there another reason for the refusal to acknowledge the potential for price manipulation from speculators?
Bush recently traveled to Saudi Arabia and asked OPEC to increase oil production to lower prices and they told him it was speculators driving up the price, the financial institutions, not the producers. Both the president and treasury secretary continue to get the wrong information and that raises a lot of questions about the quality of the staff in the Administration.
The CFTC was set up in 1974 to protect Americans from manipulations in the commodity markets. It was last updated in 2000 even though in 2006 a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said there was substantial evidence of price manipulation in the commodity oil futures markets and a gaping loophole in U.S. Regulations that would lead to further speculation and manipulation.
That was the same year the Administration allowed ICE, the new oil futures market owner in London to trade American oil futures in London. Oil prices were $59-60 per barrel then and since the gaping loophole in our regulation prices have more than doubled, meaning the price impact of speculation could be $60 per barrel today.
So Goldman Sachs represents ICE in securities offerings and was an original equity owner of ICE. The current Treasury Secretary was former head of Goldman Sachs. The current head of NYMEX, the New York Mercantile (Futures) Exchange whose contracts can be bought through ICE in London, is James Newsome who also sits on the Dubai Exchange, the third and last oil futures exchange in the world. Interestingly Newsome is a former chairman of the CTFC.
The current CTFC Global Markets Advisory Committee includes Newsome and Jeffrey Sprecher, Chairman and CEO of ICE, along with representatives of J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, UBS and Barclays among others. The CTFC Energy Market Advisory Committee includes Newsome and Sprecher from the futures exchanges along with Goldman Sachs, Shell Oil, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, J.P. Morgan, and others.
So the two key advisory committees to the CTFC contain many of the very firms that are under investigation by the CTFC and the largest investment houses, banks and oil companies of the world are the target. The five CTFC lawyers could spend decades searching for truth.
Why did Congress and the Administration refuse to act to close the huge CTFC regulatory loophole two years ago when it was identified? Why were no changes made in CTFC regulations to enable it to effectively stop oil price manipulations since Bush took office? Why does the Treasury Secretary ignore what may be massive oil price manipulations by the financial sector speculators? How can the CTFC investigate the largest and richest corporations in the world with five lawyers?
If Congress or the Administration have any sense they will assign all the investigative resources of the federal government to the CTFC investigation including the FBI, SEC, FTC and any intelligence service monitoring the world oil situation. If ever there was a need for a national security investigation this is it as our economy and the world economy are at risk. This could be the last chance for Bush to actually do something for the good of the people before his Administration becomes a target of the investigation.
And don’t forget these same financial and oil companies have already given $1.6 billion to the campaigns of our U.S. Senate, House and presidential candidates in this election year and another $1.6 billion will be given before November. Let’s hope $3 billion cannot buy the influence of Congress. They have also paid over $20 billion in fines for fraud and stock manipulations in recent years so such behavior may not be anything new.
The CFTC indicated the investigation had been quietly launched six months earlier and the announcement sent shock waves through the financial sector. The Coltons Point Times has written 14 articles about the financial manipulation of the oil futures markets over the past 18 months so we are pleased a federal agency has actually started the process.
However, the CFTC may not have the ability nor the resources to undertake such a massive investigation as their targets would have to be the largest financial organizations in the world. We already disclosed that equity owners of the London oil futures market, ICE, which is a USA company but not subject to federal regulation, include two of the largest investment houses in the world, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, three of the largest oil companies in the world, Royal Dutch Shell, BP Amoco and Total Fina Elf, and two of Europe’s leading financial institutions, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale.
The price manipulations under investigation could be the result of actions by these and all the other top financial houses and oil companies in the world and the CFTC says it has just five lead counsels to handle the cases. There are already over forty investigations launched. To give you an idea of the limits of the CFTC a spokesperson testified just ten days ago before a Senate Committee and listed reasons for the record oil price as “the weak U.S. dollar, demand from emerging economies, world unrest, bad weather and supply disruptions.” No mention was made of financial manipulations.
Now Secretary Paulson should have known about the CFTC investigation before he spoke, everyone else in the world knew. Paulson used to head Goldman Sachs, one of the certain targets of the investigation, and he knew Goldman Sachs was one of the owners of the oil futures market. Are the Bush people really that disconnected from reality or is there another reason for the refusal to acknowledge the potential for price manipulation from speculators?
Bush recently traveled to Saudi Arabia and asked OPEC to increase oil production to lower prices and they told him it was speculators driving up the price, the financial institutions, not the producers. Both the president and treasury secretary continue to get the wrong information and that raises a lot of questions about the quality of the staff in the Administration.
The CFTC was set up in 1974 to protect Americans from manipulations in the commodity markets. It was last updated in 2000 even though in 2006 a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said there was substantial evidence of price manipulation in the commodity oil futures markets and a gaping loophole in U.S. Regulations that would lead to further speculation and manipulation.
That was the same year the Administration allowed ICE, the new oil futures market owner in London to trade American oil futures in London. Oil prices were $59-60 per barrel then and since the gaping loophole in our regulation prices have more than doubled, meaning the price impact of speculation could be $60 per barrel today.
So Goldman Sachs represents ICE in securities offerings and was an original equity owner of ICE. The current Treasury Secretary was former head of Goldman Sachs. The current head of NYMEX, the New York Mercantile (Futures) Exchange whose contracts can be bought through ICE in London, is James Newsome who also sits on the Dubai Exchange, the third and last oil futures exchange in the world. Interestingly Newsome is a former chairman of the CTFC.
The current CTFC Global Markets Advisory Committee includes Newsome and Jeffrey Sprecher, Chairman and CEO of ICE, along with representatives of J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, UBS and Barclays among others. The CTFC Energy Market Advisory Committee includes Newsome and Sprecher from the futures exchanges along with Goldman Sachs, Shell Oil, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, J.P. Morgan, and others.
So the two key advisory committees to the CTFC contain many of the very firms that are under investigation by the CTFC and the largest investment houses, banks and oil companies of the world are the target. The five CTFC lawyers could spend decades searching for truth.
Why did Congress and the Administration refuse to act to close the huge CTFC regulatory loophole two years ago when it was identified? Why were no changes made in CTFC regulations to enable it to effectively stop oil price manipulations since Bush took office? Why does the Treasury Secretary ignore what may be massive oil price manipulations by the financial sector speculators? How can the CTFC investigate the largest and richest corporations in the world with five lawyers?
If Congress or the Administration have any sense they will assign all the investigative resources of the federal government to the CTFC investigation including the FBI, SEC, FTC and any intelligence service monitoring the world oil situation. If ever there was a need for a national security investigation this is it as our economy and the world economy are at risk. This could be the last chance for Bush to actually do something for the good of the people before his Administration becomes a target of the investigation.
And don’t forget these same financial and oil companies have already given $1.6 billion to the campaigns of our U.S. Senate, House and presidential candidates in this election year and another $1.6 billion will be given before November. Let’s hope $3 billion cannot buy the influence of Congress. They have also paid over $20 billion in fines for fraud and stock manipulations in recent years so such behavior may not be anything new.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
HILLARY LIED --- AGAIN! DEMOCRATS DRIVE BLACKS BACK TO REPUBLICANS
The Rules Committee of the Democratic National Committee finally met to decide what to do about the Michigan and Florida primaries, those bad boys who ignored party rules and set their own date for primaries. Of course this had already been decided last year that no votes would count and no delegates seated at the convention, an action agreed to by Hillary and Obama.
But Hillary lied. Now she wants the votes counted, the delegates seated and Obama penalized because he stayed out of the Michigan primary. This latest lie by Hillary could lead to a hijacking of the presidential nomination by her in that Obama leads in popular vote and delegates but Hillary already claims according to a new ad that started running just today to have the most popular votes in the history of American primaries.
In order to have the most popular votes every single vote in Florida and Michigan have to count, and since Obama was not even on the Michigan ballot in accordance with DNC rules, he would get zero votes in Michigan. Hillary’s claim is bogus, confusing, misleading and consistent with a campaign that ignores the rules and changes them in the middle of the game if they are losing.
The DNC Rules committee didn’t authorize counting the votes in those two states but did change their mind and allow all the delegates to attend the convention except the delegates each get half a vote not a whole vote. Clinton’s enforcers promptly announced this was unacceptable and they would take their fight to the Credentials Committee of the convention.
This means the nomination will be fought over on technical grounds requiring an overturning of DNC rules and will not be decided until August. It also means the DNC rules action that already overturned some of the DNC rules did not go far enough to appease the Clinton thugs. Does all this nonsense mean that if Hillary were president and didn’t like some rules, like the freedom of the press or religion, then she would ignore the rules to suit her own purposes? Of course it does!
It also means if she is successful and can steal the nomination from Obama on idiotic technical rules that the Democratic party will have successfully driven all the minorities in America including the Blacks and Hispanics who are part of the foundation of the Democratic party back into the Republican fold. Over 140 years ago when Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, freed the slaves all Blacks were Republican but over the years they all drifted to the Democrats. Hillary could care less.
But Hillary lied. Now she wants the votes counted, the delegates seated and Obama penalized because he stayed out of the Michigan primary. This latest lie by Hillary could lead to a hijacking of the presidential nomination by her in that Obama leads in popular vote and delegates but Hillary already claims according to a new ad that started running just today to have the most popular votes in the history of American primaries.
In order to have the most popular votes every single vote in Florida and Michigan have to count, and since Obama was not even on the Michigan ballot in accordance with DNC rules, he would get zero votes in Michigan. Hillary’s claim is bogus, confusing, misleading and consistent with a campaign that ignores the rules and changes them in the middle of the game if they are losing.
The DNC Rules committee didn’t authorize counting the votes in those two states but did change their mind and allow all the delegates to attend the convention except the delegates each get half a vote not a whole vote. Clinton’s enforcers promptly announced this was unacceptable and they would take their fight to the Credentials Committee of the convention.
This means the nomination will be fought over on technical grounds requiring an overturning of DNC rules and will not be decided until August. It also means the DNC rules action that already overturned some of the DNC rules did not go far enough to appease the Clinton thugs. Does all this nonsense mean that if Hillary were president and didn’t like some rules, like the freedom of the press or religion, then she would ignore the rules to suit her own purposes? Of course it does!
It also means if she is successful and can steal the nomination from Obama on idiotic technical rules that the Democratic party will have successfully driven all the minorities in America including the Blacks and Hispanics who are part of the foundation of the Democratic party back into the Republican fold. Over 140 years ago when Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, freed the slaves all Blacks were Republican but over the years they all drifted to the Democrats. Hillary could care less.
MEMO TO PREACHERS IN POLITICS – SHUT THE HELL UP!
What is it about people in religion and their obsession with getting center stage in the political world? Do they really think shooting off their mouth is a good way to increase the size of their congregation or the amount of donations flowing into their coffers? Don’t they already make more than enough tax free money?Good God, putting up with them in the pulpit is bad enough to drive herds of people to atheism but now that both Democratic and Republican candidates have had to denounce the endorsement of men in cloth because of their bionic tongues and the demagoguery of their preaching enough is enough.
Our Founding Fathers sure knew what they were doing when they made certain there was a separation of church and state. Maybe our current crop of Congress should take the next logical step and ban the big mouths from political campaigns as well. We could always take away their IRS tax exemption for lobbying without registration and blabbing without purpose.
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